A Journey to Sweden
In May 2023, I finally had a chance to travel to Scandinavia for the first time. While I did not visit all of the Scandinavian countries, I opted to visit Sweden and Denmark on this trip. Scandinavia had been on my travel list for many years, but I had continually put it off in favor of other places. Part of the reason for my procrastinating on traveling to this region was that I knew Scandinavia would be a more expensive destination than usual, so in years past, I had tried to find a time of year where the prices would be a bit more reasonable, and the weather would be more agreeable.
I had deliberately avoided Scandinavia in winter because of the cold, and I avoided the region in the summer because it would be the height of tourist season, and everything would likely be more expensive and more crowded. After years of putting this region off, I finally decided to go in May since it seemed like it would be shoulder season, and I am extremely thankful that I decided to go during this time. For me, the weather was perfect, and I felt the prices were reasonable.
Malardrottingen Yacht Hotel
The journey to Sweden was uneventful although my flight to make the connection to Sweden was initially delayed. As a result, when I was in Hamad International Airport in Doha, I had to run to the gate, which was at the very end of the airport. Upon arrival in Stockholm, I purchased a travel card, which would allow me to use the metro. However, while at the airport, I had a mini heart attack when I went to withdraw some Swedish kroner, but it was due to my own error and not card.
During my visit to Sweden, I opted to stay in the Malardrottingen Yacht Hotel, which is on the island of Riddarholm. I actually came upon the hotel while looking for accommodation on a travel website, and I thought the idea of staying on a permanently-docked yacht was unique. In addition, the price was reasonable and less than what I would have thought it would cost. Typically, when I look at hotels, I look at the price, location, and whether breakfast is included. The Malardrottingen Yacht Hotel hit my three criteria since I felt the price was reasonable, the location was about as good as one could get since it is located very close to the metro station, old town, train station, and the Riddarholmen Church. Finally, reviews about the hotel often raved about the breakfast, and I can vouch for that. The breakfast was very filling, and every day I probably ate my weight in bacon since I cannot get real bacon where I live in the Middle East.
When I arrived at the hotel, it is an actual yacht that had been converted into a floating hotel. My room was a standard cabin, and like most cabins on ships, it was small with not much space to move around. In fact, the width of the room was so small that I could not fully stretch my arms out. In addition, the bathroom was very small and about the size of a closet. However, I knew the room size would be on the cramped end, but that did not bother me since I would be out and about the entire day anyways and would spend relatively little time in the room. Since the yacht is on water, it did occasionally rock with the waves, but this did not bother me, and it actually helped me fall asleep.
In order to prepare for journey to Sweden, I had purchased a Stockholm City Pass. It is possible to get a 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 day pass, and the key to making these types of passes worth it is to use it a lot. While the Stockholm City Pass does allow free entry into a lot of sites, there are a decent number of sites that do not accept it. After calculating out how much time I was going to be in Sweden, the sites I really wanted to see, and what was included in the City Pass, I opted for a 1 day pass since it seemed to be the most reasonable option, and this turned out to be worth the price.
After purchasing the pass, I downloaded the app on my, and then I just had to have it scanned at different sites. It was super easy to use, and I definitely recommend it. Nothing had to be printed out, so it limited what needed to be carried. In the past when I have used passes similar to this, usually they give a physical card, but times are changing, and the need for a physical card is no longer needed.
Since I only had a total of three days in Sweden, I decided to spend one day exploring sites that were not included in the City Pass, one day exploring sites that were included in the City Pass, and then I took a day trip to the city of Uppsala.
My Favorite Sites in Stockholm
While I saw a lot of different sites in Stockholm and enjoyed walking around the streets of the old town, some sites quickly became my favorites.
Riddarholmen Church
Riddarholmen Church
Riddarholmen Church was just steps away from my hotel, and it was a site that I constantly passed by each day. The church dates from the late 13th century and is famous because it is the resting place of many Swedish monarchs throughout history.
This was actually the very first site that I saw in Sweden. On the day I went, I got there right when it opened, so there were not many people inside. It was very interesting to see the walls decorated with the coats-of-arms of hundreds of notable people including non-Swedes who were initiated into a royal Order of the Seraphim, which is an order of chivalry dating from the late 18th century. This is a very unique church since while there is a mix of tombs ranging from effigies to sarcophagi to grave stones on the floor, there are also a couple of chambers which show coffins piled on top of each of other or very close to each other. I have seen this type of setup in other places, such as the Imperial Crypt in Vienna and in La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.
Stockholm Cathedral
Stockhom Cathedral is right next to Stockholm Palace and is most famous because of its extremely lifelike sculpture group of St. George and the Dragon, which dates to the 15th century. I had seen this sculpture before in books and images online many times before. However, as is the case whenever I travel, it was much better seeing it in person since I was able to look at it from different perspectives and see everything in greater detail. Another great treasure inside the cathedral is the pulpit which is from 1700 and elaborately decorated.
Riddarhuset (House of Nobility)
The Riddarhuset is located very close to Riddarholmen Church and is a building that functions as the headquarters of an interest group focused on the current descendants of Swedish nobility. Previously, it had a political function, but now the organization focuses on genealogy of families, administering grants and scholarships, and maintaining the building.
I had not previously been aware of its function, but when I passed by the building, I saw a sign that said entry was permitted for one hour per day from 11-12pm. I did not know what to expect, but I made it a point to check it out at the opening hour and was not disappointed. The main meeting hall is filled with a couple thousand coats-of-arms of noble families in Sweden. After briefly chatting with one of the personnel I was genuinely surprised to learn how many people in Sweden of noble birth still exist today, and that many of them now reside in the United States. In addition, the Riddarhuset has several rooms that highlight the history of the building, portraits of speakers of the parliament (on behalf of the nobility) from centuries past, and several thousand signet rings.
Stockholm Palace
Stockholm Palace is the office residence of the Swedish monarchy, and a visitor can easily spend a day just exploring the palace and its associated museums that are within the palace itself. Since my time was limited, I was able to see all parts of the palace except for the Royal Chapel, which was only open on a day when I would not be present. The palace has many extravagantly decorated rooms, and it is very easy to spend several hours exploring and thoroughly examining all the items. During my travels, I have had the opportunity and privilege to see many royal palaces in a variety of different countries, and each one is unique in its own way. For me, I found the Hall of State to be particularly impressive by its size.
In addition, on the day that I visited Stockholm Palace, I had the lucky fortune to finish my tour of the palace right when the changing of the guard ceremony was taking place. The ceremony lasted for about half an hour and involved marching, horses, and a musical performance.
The Vasa Museum
The Vasa was a Swedish warship built between 1628 and 1628. During its maiden voyage, the ship was not able to keep its balance upright, and the water came in through many of its gunports. As a result, the ship sank when it was brand new. Eventually, the ship was salvaged, and today the Vasa Museum has preserved the entire ship within a museum. Seeing the entire ship is quite impressive since it is very large, and the museum itself does a wonderful job of not only explaining its history but also illustrating what life was like for the crew during the seventeenth century. The museum is designed so that it is easy to get a variety of different views of the ship from the bottom to the top from the various floors in the museum.
A Quick Day Trip to Uppsala
As part of my rather quick trip through Sweden, I also took a day trip to Uppsala, which is a little bit north of Stockholm. Unfortunately, on the day I went, the weather was quite rainy. Prior to that day, I had been lucky with perfect weather, but on this day, the bad weather decided to roll in, so it was cold and rainy. On top of that, by that point in my trip, I had started to get sick and was not feeling well, so I did not spend as much time in Uppsala as I would have liked.
However, during my time in Uppsala, I did visit Uppsala University, in particular, I visited the Uppsala University Library and spent some time wandering around the stacks. As I was walking around the stacks, some of the undergraduate students who were studying in there glanced at me and probably wondered who I was since I did not look like a student. By strange coincidence, during my random wandering, I came upon the art history shelves of the library, and for a few minutes, I felt like a graduate student again when I was studying art history. Strangely enough, some of the titles I saw on the shelves were ones I remember reading when I was in graduate school but had long forgotten about.
I also had the chance to visit Uppsala Cathedral, which is the traditional coronation site for Swedish monarchs. The treasury of the Cathedral showcased several liturgical items along with items, such as swords, crowns, and other pieces of jewelry that were removed from tombs of Swedish kings.
The last site I visited was the Linneaus Garden and Home, which was the home of Carl Linneaus and his family. Since it was rainy and out of season, they were still in process of planting items, and many of the planted items had not bloomed, but the home was interesting since it showed where Linneaus lived and worked.
Even though my trip to Sweden was fairly quick, there was a lot of sites and things to do, and I am extremely glad that I decided to go. I would definitely like to return and spend more time in not only Stockholm but also other parts of Sweden as well.
Please enjoy the gallery of some of my other pictures from Sweden. All photos were taken with an iPhone 13 Pro Max.
